Siemens Gamesa and Vestas have entered into a strategic partnership to promote standardization within the industry, commencing with the optimization of tower transportation equipment. The collaboration, facilitated by Energy Cluster Denmark, builds upon their existing partnership related to tower feet and lifting guidelines.
Presently, when shipping a wind turbine tower for offshore installation, manufacturers weld a box onto the installation vessel, to which the tower is subsequently clamped. This process, involving significant iron usage and labor on the quayside, incurs costs in both monetary and environmental terms. Following offshore installation completion, the equipment is removed from the vessel, leading to further expenditures in terms of time, money, and the broader green transition efforts.
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Jesper Møller, Chief Engineer of Offshore Execution at Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, highlighted the significance of the agreement, stating: “In 2027, there will be far too many offshore wind farm projects on the drawing board relative to the number of installation vessels available. This presents difficulties for the green transition, for us as manufacturers and indeed for our entire value and supply chain. That is why we have chosen to enter into a new partnership with Vestas to optimize the cost-intensive equipment each of our companies delivers today. Standardization will allow us quite simply to ship out more turbine parts faster.”
Morten Baungaard Nielsen, Lead Project Manager for Global Supply Chain and Global Transport Readiness at Vestas, emphasized the strategic move towards standardization, saying: “Standardization is a natural step to take in maturing any industry. Our wind industry supply chains are no exception. It makes perfect sense for us to develop common standards so that we manufacturers do not have to take charge of large chunks of the logistics. By shifting more of our costs out into the value chain, we save money and boost our subcontractors' business. Ultimately, standardization is of benefit to the production of green power that everyone is asking us to deliver. Now we're looking for people, companies, anyone willing to help us do things smarter – we are keen to engage in a dialogue with everyone in the wind industry value chains – including our competitors. We will collaborate with anyone who wants to make a collective, green difference with us.”
